My first day with my Sport!

Wow....That's all I can say.

I had a blast out in the Indian River Lagoon today on my Sport, the water was as slick as glass, not a cloud in the sky, and the wind was no problem at all, perfect day for a maiden voyage! I was surprised how easily I could pedal against the wind and make enough progress to generate a respectable wake. I forgot to bring my speedometer (and sunscreen...ouch...my legs hurt), so I'm not sure how fast I was going but even if I brought it, I probably wouldn't have bothered to check since I was having so much fun!

If my sunburn will let me, I'll be out there again tomorrow, WITH my sunscreen, trying to see some dolphins, manatees, and whatever else I can.

I'm still in awe of how great the Mirage drive works and how smart of a design it is. This is hands down the best purchase I have ever made.

-Dan

hey dan, i was out on my adventure wednesday(17th) at the fisherman's landing in Grant and saturday(20th) at the eau gallie causeway down by the merritt island dragon. would you be interested in a joint adventure. my friends around here(north melbourne) are not interested in kayaking. their loss.
a dolphin broached loud and fast 10-12 feet away from me this afternoon. i never saw it coming so it scared the crap outta me. it was kinda thrilling after my heart stopped pounding through my shirt and my wits were calmed enough to return to my brain.
i plan on getting the sail kit and the outriggers for extended mileage trips.

I just purchased a sport and am also in ya'lls area. I purchased mine mostly to fish from. Had it out for the first time on Friday evening (launched it at Paddlers Park in Indian Harbor Beach) and it was increadible. I've never even been in a kayak before but found the sport to be very forgiving and stable, I was able to fish a whole shoreline of mangroves effortlessly. If you like fishing would love to get out with some other kayak owners.

Antbric:

Yes, by adding the sailing package and Side Kick you can significantly increase your kayaking range with the confidence of enhanced stability.

On my first overnight trip (two half-days) I logged 14.2 miles and had nary a sole muscle the next day. It was fantastic! I think a 30 mile roundtrip in two days would not be out of the question, provided you have some wind of course.

Jon

Recently I had the occasion to test drive a Sport for a whole weekend. I wanted to see what speed I could keep over a longer distance and how it compared against traditional kayaks. Actually I would have liked to test the Adventure, but even the Sport turned out to be a good performer despite its short length.



On the first day I covered a distance of 24 km (15 miles) with an average speed of 5.7 km/h (3.5 mph), not counting several stops for eating, swimming and sunbathing. I was surprised that even when going against the wind I wasn't slowing down significantly. It was only necessary to use the rudder more to correct the bearing, and it was quite a wet ride with a lot of hull pounding.

On the second day I went with four friends who had fiberglass paddle kayaks and I let everyone try the Sport. We also tried the sail package but there wasn't enough wind. The generally agreed opinion was that the Mirage drive is very efficient but the hull shape reduces that advantage somewhat. My friends were talking about the possibility of installing the Mirage drive in a traditional kayak while I was more taken by the idea of a catamaran kayak.

Anyway, using the Sport there was no problem to keep up with the longer fiberglass paddle kayaks. Towards the end of the 20km (12.5 miles) trip I was getting tired paddling and was happy to get the Sport back for the final kilometers. I think I could spend a whole day pedalling without getting tired but that is not true for paddling. I'm looking forward to getting my own Hobie Mirage!

Hey Guys,
Good to hear from folks who like the Sport as much as I. Even though I have an Outback also, my (wife's) Sport has become my favorite over the past year due to its light weight and maneuverability. In response to an earlier request, I put together a list of some of the rigging modifications that I have made to the Sport. Some of the links are listed below FYI. There are any number of ways to rig a kayak, but these just happen to be some that have worked for me.

1. Rigging the Sport for Fishing

http://kfs.infopop.cc/groupee/forums/a/tpc/f/5086057385...151030561#7151030561

2. Ice chest for the Sport

http://kfs.infopop.cc/groupee/forums/a/tpc/f/5086057385...811079551#7811079551

3. Installing RAM mount outriggers on a Sport

http://kfs.infopop.cc/groupee/forums/a/tpc/f/5086057385...691026561#4691026561

4. Field test of Sport Outriggers

http://kfs.infopop.cc/groupee/forums/a/tpc/f/5086057385...521070761#7521070761

5. Tackle boxes on the Sport

http://kfs.infopop.cc/groupee/forums/a/tpc/f/5086057385...901051161#9901051161

6. Some minor upgrades to the Sport

http://kfs.infopop.cc/groupee/forums/a/tpc/f/5086057385...901083661#2901083661

7. Modifying your built-in rodholders

http://kfs.infopop.cc/groupee/forums/a/tpc/f/220603834/...091073181#6091073181

8. Leashing your Mirage drive and other gear

http://kfs.infopop.cc/groupee/forums/a/tpc/f/5086057385...081010751#5081010751

9. Building a trailer for transporting Outback and Sport

http://kfs.infopop.cc/groupee/forums/a/tpc/f/948607442/...461030751#1461030751

10. A “betterâ€

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